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Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
SITE DESCRIPTION - NNSA FY2005 Congressional Budget Request (610-616)

History
LANL is a multi-program laboratory, supporting research predominantly in national security. The laboratory also supports environmental restoration, waste management, general science programs, homeland security, and work for others. The Deputy Administrator for Defense Programs is both the Cognizant Secretarial Officer, having line-management accountability for LANL, and the Lead Program Secretarial Officer, responsible for landlord activities and overall site integration and operations.

The Record of Decision for a Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for the continued operation of LANL was published September 20, 1999. The decision allows for expanded operations, consistent with the Record of Decision for the Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), issued December 19, 1996, including implementation of pit manufacturing, at the level of twenty pits per year, and expansion of the low-level radioactive waste disposal facility.

The Record of Decision, administered by Department of Energy (DOE) at Los Alamos, for the conveyance and transfer of land tracts to Los Alamos County and to the Department of Interior, in trust for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, was published March 2000. From a total of 4,120 acres of land to be conveyed or transferred under PL 105-119, the DOE at Los Alamos has conveyed to the County of Los Alamos or transferred to the Department of the Interior, in trust for the Pueblo of San Ildefonso, 2,210 acres of land. The end of FY 2004 will see a transfer of another 720 acres, and 110 acres will be transferred in FY 2005. At this point, the project will be 75% complete.

Management
University of California. The current contract will be competed in September 2005.


WEAPONS ACTIVITIES

Directed Stockpile Work (DSW)
Los Alamos will support the B61 Life Extension Program (LEP) by working on the Canned Subassembly (CSA) of the physics package and associated seals, foams, pads and cabling. Los Alamos will support the W76 LEP, which is in Phase 6.3 by completing engineering development of W76-1 Nuclear Explosive Package and Gas Transfer System; in FY 2005, Los Alamos will continue to assist in the transfer of information and Acorn development as outlined in the tri-laboratory agreement. LANL activities support multiple systems. In this area, LANL will warrantee the safety and surety on our nuclear weapons, execute hydrotesting, ensure weapons archiving, perform studies of the nuclear weapons stockpile, perform models-based engineering and manufacturing, and provide the core competencies and capabilities for the gas transfer systems.

Science Campaign
Within the Primary Assessment Technology activity, one of LANL’s principal goals is the development and application of analysis techniques, including Quantitative Margins and Uncertainties (QMU), that supports baseline model improvement. LANL will support Dynamic Materials Properties ($28M in FY 2005) largely through use of its specific experimental capabilities to provide data for, and tests of, predictive models of material properties and behavior. The goal in Advanced Radiography ($29M in FY 2005) is to assess and develop the capability to deduce, from radiography, the integral performance of a nuclear weapon during the primary implosion phase in order to assure the continuing reliability and safety of the stockpile. This will be accomplished by translating stockpile certification requirements into quantitative time-dependent, three-dimensional radiographic requirements, assessing current and future technologies, and developing and integrating the required capabilities for quantitative linkage to weapons performance. This area also provides for the initial optimization of the Dual-Axis Radiographic Hydrotest (DARHT) second axis and the continued evolution of DARHT over the next decade. LANL will continue to advance proton radiography capabilities and apply them to stockpile problems using the pRAD facility at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center (LANSCE).

Within Secondary Assessment Technology LANL ($20M in FY 2005) will identify the key elements of the functional sequence of events leading to secondary explosion, and work to resolve key issues in each element to the accuracy consistent with the overall allowable uncertainty for the weapon systems in the stockpile.

Engineering Campaign
This includes efforts to develop improved surety options, such as a new level of use-control capabilities that may be considered for incorporation in scheduled stockpile refurbishments. In addition, LANL has established science-based engineering methods to increase confidence in weapons systems through validated simulation models and high-fidelity experimental tests.

Inertial Confinement Fusion Ignition and High Yield (ICF) Campaign
The LANL ICF effort ($32M in FY 2005) provides quantitative experimental data and physical underpinning needed for validation of advanced modeling required in nuclear weapons certification. We participate in the pursuit of laboratory ignition by utilizing unique Los Alamos scientific and technological capabilities. This area includes the work necessary to establish the fundamental science and technology base to produce National Ignition Facility (NIF)-specification ignition capsules.

Advanced Simulation and Computing (ASCI) Campaign
Los Alamos will complete two-dimensional modern baselines for all systems in the stockpile during FY 2005 and will use those baselines in DSW and in making predictions for DynEx experiments, provide the computational tools and infrastructure used in analysis resources, improved software quality will provide data that will be used to validate ASCI models and codes.

Pit Manufacturing and Certification Campaign
The strategy of the campaign includes reestablishment of the technical capability to manufacture war reserve (WR) pits, the establishment of a manufacturing capacity required to support the nuclear weapons stockpile, and the ability to certify newly manufactured pits for entry into the stockpile without the use of nuclear testing. The near-term activity is focused on W88 pit manufacturing and certification, and long-term activities include demonstrating the capability to manufacture all pits in the enduring stockpile as well as plan for long term pit manufacturing capacity.

Readiness Campaign
At Los Alamos, two Readiness activities are performed: Advanced Design and Production Technologies (ADAPT) and Nonnuclear Readiness. Los Alamos’s ADAPT activities ($7M in FY 2005) reflect both design and production technology development--both major activities at Los Alamos. The scope of work includes all LANL production activities, plus supporting capabilities such as secure networking and certain technical business practices. Activities are principally organized according to the product(s) they are intended to support (e.g., Detonators, Tritium/Neutron Target Tube Loading, Beryllium Components, Pits, Mock Pits, and Experimental Hardware), as well as development of Models-Based Engineering tools and capabilities and a manufacturing capability for neutron tube target loading. Los Alamos also has a significant Non-nuclear production activity in developing capabilities for Los Alamos non-nuclear production as well as other plants. Scope includes deployment of processes, capabilities, and infrastructure required to meet directive schedule requirements for production and surveillance of non-nuclear components. Activities at LANL support detonator manufacturing and surveillance, neutron tube target loading, surveillance, and portions of the beryllium technology mission.

Readiness in Technical Base and Facilities (RTBF)
The RTBF activities include operating and maintaining Defense Programs-owned facilities in “warm standby” mode, including the Engineering, Tritium, Dynamic Experimentation, LANSCE, Waste Management, Nuclear Materials Technology [e.g., TA-55 & Chemistry and Metallurgy Research (CMR)], Beryllium Technology, and Nuclear Materials Storage and Critical Experiments Facility (e.g., TA-18). Warm standby work scope includes conventional facility management, infrastructure and utilities, and operation & maintenance of special equipment, ($319M in FY 2005).

Construction ($77M in FY 2005) projects currently in conceptual design at LANL include the TA-18 relocation project and CMR Replacement project. Design will be initiated on the Dynamic Experimentation High Explosives Characterization project in FY 2005.

Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program
The Facilities and Infrastructure Recapitalization Program (FIRP) is funding a balanced program of deferred maintenance reduction and an aggressive facility disposition program to eliminate excess facilities. FIRP funded projects have provided both direct and indirect support to the Stockpile Stewardship Program by providing quality work space that promotes worker productivity, professional interaction and retention and recruitment of the personnel needed to carry out the Laboratory’s this mission. In addition, FIRP funded projects have supported upgrades and recapitalization of the infrastructure in core mission facilities. This includes the modernization of 50-year old laboratories, replacement of mechanical equipment and the repair of electrical systems. The Power Grid Infrastructure System line item construction project will be initiated in FY 2005 ($10M) to build a third power line and eliminate the single point of failure on site. FIRP also has initiated the complex-wide Roof Asset Management Program (RAMP) to establish and implement a corporate approach for the management of NNSA’s roofing assets, which is expected to result in improved cost efficiencies, improved quality of life extension of NNSA’s roofing assets, consistent approach and common standards for optimal roofing repairs and replacement, and additional deferred maintenance reduction.

Safeguards and Security
Nuclear Materials Safeguards and Security Upgrades, Phase I, is underway at LANL. Two new security line item construction projects are proposed for design or design-build in FY 2005: Nuclear Materials Safeguards and Security Upgrades, Phase II ($10M in FY 2005) and the Security Perimeter Project ($20M in FY 2005). The laboratory has developed a Design Basis Threat (DBT) Implementation Plan to address new DBT protection requirements.


DEFENSE NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION

Nonproliferation and Verification Research and Development
LANL provides the U.S. Government with improved analytic tools and sensors to discriminate earthquakes and industrial activities from banned nuclear explosions. LANL begins delivering next generation of satellite based electromagnetic pulse sensors and continues developing next generation radiation sensors for nuclear explosion monitoring systems. The laboratory will develop expert unattended methods and handheld radiation detection systems to support monitoring operations for compliance to future nonproliferation policies. LANL will continue developing innovative algorithms and specialized processors to process voluminous quantities of remote sensing data into the specific information required by decision makers. The world-class radiometric calibration facility and expertise developed at LANL, as part of the multi-spectral thermal imaging small satellite program, will be used in ongoing data analysis from the satellite which is now in orbit as well as for other spectral programs. The lab develops analysis capability from the Fast On-Orbit Recording of Transient Events (FORTE) satellite data to aid in Radio Frequency sensor development.

Fissile Materials Disposition
LANL is a multi-program lead laboratory for the development of U.S. weapons pit disassembly and conversion technology. The Automated Recovery and Integrated Extraction System (ARIES) demonstration system, located at LANL, serves as the prototype demonstration project for the production-scale facility. The lab also provides technical services, independent design review, independent assessment of the safety basis for the Mixed-Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility , as well as support for technical aspects associated with monitoring and inspection activities. LANL also provides support to efforts associated with the plutonium conversion line in Russia.


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